Is Annulment possible for a forged marriage certificate?

[maxwell77]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Missouri

Assuming the definition below is accurate, would a forged marriage license and application be something pertinent to the marriage and be enough to obtain an annulment?

Definition:Annulment
Fraud is the most prevalent ground for annulment. The Misrepresentation, whether by lies or concealment of the truth, must encompass something directly pertinent to the marriage, such as religion, children, or sex, which society considers the foundation of a marital relationship.

Specifically the male party took a woman with him to the application process who pretended to be the intended female bride. The imposter stated she was the other female and gave the intended girl's name, birthdate and forged her signature. The male party then told the bride to be (who was a resident of another state) that her presence was not necessary in Missouri and the license was ready and she then came to Missouri for the wedding. (This happend over 20 years ago and no IDs were required or asked for, no blood tests were required either).

The couple have not lived together as husband and wife for about the last 4 years. Is there any likely hood an annulment could be obtained? (To this date the wife does not know there was any deception in the license process.)
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MissouriWhat is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[mistoffolees]

Not a chance. They lived together for 16 years and the wife didn't do anything about the fraud. The fact that she lived with him for 16 years indicates that she truly intended to be married.

Even if she didn't know about it, it's far to late to claim "I wasn't really married because of a technicality".

(Hint: if the husband were to try to use this technicality to void the marriage, then he could be opening himself up for felony tax evasion charges. HE knew about it and if he filed taxes as married, then goes back and claims that he believes the marriage never existed, he'd be opening a can of worms that he probably doesn't want to open).

In the end, after 20 years, there's no conceivable reason why you'd want an annulment instead of a divorce which is cheaper and easier. Even those with religious reasons can still get an annulment in their church after obtaining a legal divorce.